Winter Storm Watch For Storm #2

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Monday’s storm brought 3.5” of snow to Philadelphia, bringing the season total to 40.6” of snow, and more is on the way.

Tuesday will literally be the “calm before the storm”. STORM #2, that is.

Clouds will increase during the day and snow, ice and rain may arrive by midnight!

A Winter Storm Watch will go into effect late Tuesday night and continue through Wednesday afternoon for the counties North and West of Philadelphia for accumulating snow and ice.

In our northern and western suburbs 4-6” of snow is possible before a changeover to ice. In the Lehigh Valley, 6-8” of snow with .1-.2” of ice. This will be enough snow and ice to pull down tree limbs and power lines, and create dangerous travel.

In the city, as of now, it’s looking like a brief period of snow (maybe 2-4″), then the threat for ice, and a changeover to rain Wednesday morning. This type of storm is difficult to forecast as far as precipitation type because temperatures will be so close to freezing and temperatures at the 850 level (higher in the atmosphere) are also marginal.A slight shift in the storm’s track by 25-50 miles can mean the difference between ice and rain, or between another significant snow and a changeover to plain rain.

Wednesday morning’s commute is going to be a mess, especially in the Watch Area. We will keep you updated on the latest storm track, while keeping an eye on another threat this weekend – more snow and rain, with the worst of it likely Sunday into Monday.